So instead of making efficiency gains using exotic but expensive thin-film solar cell materials like cadmium telluride, the industry will likely turn to cheap alternatives such as pyrite and copper oxide.

But many of her anecdotes about her early years in broadcasting are revealing, particularly when they suggest how much pyrite the networks served up in what some critics call “the golden age of television.”

We learn, for instance, that the mineral grains inside the pebble were eroded off the long-lost continent of Avalonia more than 600 million years ago, and, more recently, around 420 million years ago, tiny crystals of fool's gold pyrite settled on the ancient mud to fill in the body cavities of tiny animals whose bodies had sunk into the muck.

In January, the main line -- which starts at $115 for a pyrite bracelet adorned with a pearl and $270 for a wood beaded bracelet with a pearl and two diamond rondelles -- was picked up by two retailers.